Riverdale man arrested after hit-and-run accident in Cambria on Friday

A 41-year-old man from Riverdale, Calif., was arrested Friday, Jan. 20, and charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run, driving under the influence, and resisting arrest following an accident in Cambria early Friday morning.

Riverdale is southwest of Fresno.

According to the CHP report, Nickey Vara apparently was driving west near the 2700 block of Ardath Drive near Pineridge Drive on Lodge Hill in Cambria when he failed to safely navigate a curve. Officer Bill Irons said Vara’s 2000 GMC Jimmy crashed into a tree just after midnight, also striking two parked cars, a 2003 Saturn and a 2000 Mazda pickup, doing significant damage to all three vehicles.

CHP’s report says Vara left the area, but he was located about 8:30 a.m. and arrested.

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Cambria Fire Department personnel initially were called to the scene, too, because preliminary calls about the accident included reports of a car fire. There apparently was no fire, but because CHP officers were tied up on another incident, firefighters remained at the scene.